BANGOR

Author Stephen King shocks students with surprise visit

Maine horror-master Stephen King made a surprise, pre-Halloween visit to a Canadian school, shocking some of the students when he turned up.

King spoke Friday to students at the high school in Sussex, New Brunswick, after a yearlong campaign to get the author to visit the school by Halloween 2012.

The author of books such as “The Stand,” “The Shining” and “The Green Mile” gathered with 18 students in the school’s library to provide feedback on their writing.

AUGUSTA

LePage says he’s worried about federal spending cuts

Gov. Paul LePage is worried about the potential impact of across-the-board cuts in federal spending that may be down the road.

Those cuts could result from the deficit-ceiling agreement made in the summer of 2011.

It forces automatic and significant cuts, or sequestration, in defense and discretionary spending on Jan. 2, 2013, if the administration and Congress fail to reach agreement on budget cuts.

In his weekly radio address Saturday, LePage called sequestration “a particularly bad decision” that will affect state government, Maine people and communities. He said elected officials’ feet must be held to the fire.

In the Democratic response, state Rep. Brian Bolduc of Auburn urged all eligible Mainers to vote on Election Day.

He called voting the most important step one can take toward protecting democracy.

— From news service reports